Figment Photography is a wedding and portrait photography studio based out of Rockford, Illinois. Our website displays a selection of our photography work with weddings, engagements, families, and seniors. Our blog gives a deeper look at the individual sessions we shoot.

Legacy

In my family’s basement, there are 5 white cardboard boxes; one for each child with stacks inside of 4x6 photos from our pre-digital camera years. Every few months one of us kids will pull out their box (and inevitably the other 4 boxes) to flip through grainy, poorly lit pictures of events we barely remember. Before you could fire off dozens of shots in a minute with just your phone, cameras were lugged out for special occasions like birthdays, first haircuts, and vacations.

Our boxes hold some of my favorite photos. They show us running around in the backyard, building forts, and eating weeknight dinners. My family laughs a lot together, we make up weird games, and there are plenty of hugs to go around. These boxes remind us of the years of fun we’ve had together and the memories we’ve made however small they sometimes were.

So I had some thoughts to share-

1. The best camera is the one you have with you. It’s okay that your fancy camera is 3 rooms over in the closet. Just take the picture with what you have handy!

2. Print. Print. Print.Rarely does anyone go through old hard drives to look through hundreds of photos. Print the ones that are meaningful; save the rest on your computer.

3. The Legacy Collection

This March I am introducing a brand new session specifically for families. The Legacy Session, a photo shoot to create new memories and photograph some of the sweetest years. This shoot may be a once in a lifetime event for your family but I truly believe it is a gift for the entire family (although they’ll probably better appreciate it in 15 years!)

What a Legacy Session Looks Like:

We’ll shoot at your home and places you love.

My goal is to keep out of your way and just observe your life. We may chat for a while as everyone gets used to me being there, we may play music, or turn on the tv. whatever needs to happen for everyone to be comfy. My camera will most certainly not be firing away the whole time.

Before the shoot we’ll plan some basic activities that might normally be part of your day like pb&j lunches, biking around the cul-de-sac, nap time, family dinner, and homework. Mostly it’s just your family on a regular day + one extra person.

What a Legacy Session Isn’t:

Stressful. There is no time constraint. We’ll have a rough end time but if everyone is just done before then, that’s great too. We won’t miss nap times, toddler tantrums are expected, and hopefully we’ll plan activities that everyone can enjoy together.

Posed. I’ll certainly grab a few staple photos of everyone together for the Christmas card, but otherwise I’ll just be hanging out with you.

Perfect. Throw all your ideas of Pinterest perfect photos out the window unless you’re a family of actual models with a constantly clean home... but that’s not normal. Let’s enjoy real life and not worry about being perfect.

To celebrate these new shoots, I’m hosting a giveaway for a Legacy Session!

To enter, follow this link,like the post AND like the Figment Photography page. Bonus Entry: To get 5 additional entries share the post to your own wall with a sentence or two describing why you think a Legacy Session would be a treasure for your family (be sure to change the privacy settings for this one post to “public” so I can see it!).

If Facebook isn't your thing, Instagram works, too! Create a new post with a photo that best embodies your family and a brief description of why you’d love a Legacy Session. Follow + tag @figmentphoto and you’re entered!

The winner must live within 65 miles Rockford, IL will be chosen randomly at 12:01p (CST) March 13, 2017!

*Note: All images were resurrected from previously mentioned white boxes